kinships
Ties of blood
Kinships are relationships based on blood, marriage, or close bonds.
The plural emphasizes multiple such connections: The kinships formed in that small village lasted generations.
Anthropologists study kinships to understand how societies organize family structures and obligations.
The word can also refer to feelings of connection based on shared qualities: the kinships between artists working in similar styles.
Ancestry through generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- clanRelated group sharing ancestry
- relativesThose connected by blood
cousins · siblings · genealogy · descendants · forebears · matrilineal · patrilineal · extended family
Collective of connected people
- tribeSocial group sharing ancestry
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- sisterhoodBond among women
- fellowshipMutual goodwill among companions
solidarity · camaraderie · belonging · bonds · affinity · allegiance · clan · village
Inherited social division
- moietyOne of two parts
- totemSpiritual clan symbol
- whakapapaMāori ancestral lineage system
- ubuntuShared humanity ethic
godparents · sworn brothers · blood brothers · adoption · namesake · honorary uncle · auntie · elder
Those from whom one descends
- spirit guidesNonphysical protective entities
- divine connectionBond with the sacred
- karmic tiesFated soul connections
- sanghaBuddhist religious community
congregation · covenant · spiritual lineage · guru-disciple · faith community · communion · fellowship · ancestral spirits
bloodline
Ancestry through generations
relatives · cousins · siblings · genealogy · descendants · forebears · matrilineal · patrilineal · extended family · nuclear family
community
Collective of connected people
- tribeSocial group sharing ancestry
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- sisterhoodBond among women
fellowship · solidarity · camaraderie · belonging · bonds · affinity · allegiance · clan · village · collective
caste
Inherited social division
ubuntu · godparents · sworn brothers · blood brothers · adoption · namesake · honorary uncle · auntie · elder · ancestor veneration
ancestors
Those from whom one descends
- spirit guidesNonphysical protective entities
- divine connectionBond with the sacred
- karmic tiesFated soul connections
sangha · congregation · covenant · spiritual lineage · guru-disciple · faith community · communion · fellowship · ancestral spirits
kinshipsestrangements
States of relational distance
alienation · disconnection · alienations · isolation · separations
kinshipsstrangers
People unknown to you
unfamiliarity · anonymity · foreignness · otherness · outsiders
kinshipsstrangers
People unknown to you
outsiders · foreigners · alienage · disconnection · acquaintanceships
- kinship terminologyWords designating family relations
- spiritual kinshipNonphysical closeness between people
- kinship tiesBonds linking relatives together
- kinship groupRelatives as collective unit
- kinship careRelatives raising displaced children